# Runestones Runestones are protocol messages stored in Bitcoin transaction outputs A Bitcoin UTXO transaction may constrain 1 runestone per transaction. Each Runestone may hold any number of Runes and Runes balances > A Runestone output's script pubkey begins with an `OP_RETURN`, followed by `OP_13`, followed by zero or more data pushes. These data pushes are concatenated and decoded into a sequence of 128-bit integers, and finally parsed into a runestone.\ > \ > [*https://docs.ordinals.com/runes.html*](https://docs.ordinals.com/runes.html) Runestones create and manage Runes by Etching, Minting and Transferring --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://runemine.gitbook.io/runemine/runes/runestones.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.